


The Nights We Felt Alive

by macabre_monkey



Category: The Last Herald Mage, Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey
Genre: Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Music, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-15
Updated: 2011-09-15
Packaged: 2017-10-23 18:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/253654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macabre_monkey/pseuds/macabre_monkey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vanyel and Stefen sing for Treesa and her Ladies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Nights We Felt Alive

It had been a long time since Stefen had played just for the joy of music. Since his promotion, music was a job like any other. Using his Gift was so draining, and when he was in trance he wasn't really focused on what or how well he was playing. So he really didn't mind giving private performances for Vanyel's mother and her ladies-in-waiting. They weren't the most discerning listeners, mostly requesting trite love songs, particularly "My Lady's Eyes", which he knew from Vanyel was Lady Treesa's favorite. But, if the lyrics were an exercise in melodrama, the tune was lovely, and it wasn't a song just _anyone_ could play. And like any other performer, he needed adoration like he needed air. So he preened under their praise, and perhaps they were a little overenthusiastic about paying him compliments, but Stefen wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

By now he was used to Yfandes attenting his orchard concerts. It still sometimes struck him as funny, having what for most intents and purposes was a horse in the audience, but Yfandes had proven over and again that she was just as intelligent as Van said. She even bowed to Lady Treesa.

He was not accustomed, however, to Vanyel attending. Van was usually off doing whatever he did to relax. Sometimes that meant strapping into armor and helping his cousin Radevel out with weapons training Forst Reach's youth, or demonstrating effective ways to stop a mage in combat. More often than not, though, he saddled a horse and went riding in the woods surrounding the keep, leaving Yfandes and Stefen behind, often for hours at a time.

So Stefen was pleasantly surprised to see Vanyel making his way across the orchard. He smiled and stopped playing, and Treesa and the other ladies followed his gaze and launched into excited squeals. Vanyel ran an affectionate hand over Yfandes' crest, and took his mother's hand and kissed her cheek.

"Vanyel, you have been _neglecting_ us," Treesa chided. "We hardly even knew you were _here_."

"Forgive me, Mother; I thought surely you would prefer the talents of the King's own bard to my amateurish wailing," he said with a wink and a smile at Stef. Stef smiled back, and decided that he liked this version of Vanyel much better. Here, at home, he was less guarded than he was in Haven. And he looked better, more like someone who was naturally rangy and less like someone who was on the verge of starvation, and well rested, too. Except for lovemaking, he was actually sleeping at night and not attending emergency council meetings, or doing any of the hundred things that it seemed only Vanyel could do to keep the kingdom running. It was still strange to Stef, though, to see him in normal clothes and not his Heraldic uniform. He seemed less remote when he was wearing his favorite clothes, even if they were the height of fashion.

"I do hope you haven't been taxing poor Stefen, though, Mother; after all he did come here to rest," Vanyel said.

Stefen scoffed at that. "The day I'm not up to an afternoon of playing for such delightful company is the day I renounce my scarletts," he said loftily. "And you're interrupting my performance," he added icily, fixing Vanyel with his best imitation of his old instructor's glares, even managing to look down his nose at Vanyel, although he was sitting on the ground and Van was still standing. Van choked back a laugh and held out his hands placatingly as he said "Please, pray continue, Master Bard."

Stefen gave a mollified sniff and made a show of tuning his gittern, before launching into the sixth verse of "My Lady's Eyes" as Van reclined against Yfandes' side.

Stefen suddenly decided that he wanted to hear Vanyel sing, very badly. Vanyel was also a gifted musician, and he and Stef often talked about music, but Vanyel rarely sang or played for him, claiming Stefen couldn't possibly be interested in his "amateurish wailing", as he put it. Stef suspected that at least part of the reason was he'd never completely gotten over his disappointment at being rejected from the Bardic Collegium before he was Chosen by Yfandes. As Stefen understood it, it hadn't been because of a lack of talent, but because at the time, Van had been the heir to Forst Reach, and Lord Withen had been dead set against him embarking on a musical career.

Stef also knew that as much as Lady Treesa enjoyed hosting the King's personal Bard, and having him more or less at her beck and call, she still loved Van more than anything, and his singing meant more to her than a concert put on by all the Master Bards in the kingdom.

So when he finished the tenth verse of "My Lady's Eyes", he put down his gittern, and said, I'm afraid I may have strained my voice just a bit," clearing his throat for emphasis. "Perhaps you could take the next song, Van?" he asked, widening his eyes in entreaty.

Before Vanyel could say anything, Lady Treesa enthused, "Oh _do_ Vanyel, please, you absolutely _must_ , it's been positively _ages_ since we've heard you sing." And all the other ladies joined in a chorus of "Oh, would yous" and "Yes, you musts".

Vanyel half-laughed and held up his hands as if their pleas were a swarm of horseflies, and said "Oh, all right, since you insist. Any requests?"

One of the younger girls asked for "Sun and Shadow", apparently forgetting that Stefen was meant to be resting his voice. Treesa thought it was a magnificent idea, declaring Vanyel "perfect" for Sun Singer. Van quirked an eyebrow at Stef. He shrugged, willing to compromise. He'd never performed it as Shadow Dancer, though he knew all her parts. He had a decent range and he was a tenor, so he was certain he could do it justice. He plucked out the first notes of the song, and Van began to sing.

He really was a perfect Sun Singer, Stefen had to admit; that wasn't just Treesa's prejudice. And Vanyel might not have the Bardic Gift, but the way he sang evoked the pain of Sun Singer's curse nonetheless, even if he couldn't recreate the story in his listener's minds, the way Stefen could, if he chose.

Stef was so caught in the moment that he nearly missed his cue, saving himself from embarrassment just in time to begin singing Shadow Dancer's despair. Vanyel caught his eyes, and a slow heat, sweet and delicate, infused his body, and for a moment it felt a little like when he was in trance, and there was nothing but himself and the music he was making, only this time he'd managed to bring Van into it as well. And then Vanyel joined in the harmony and they desperately searched for a way to break their curses, to find a way to be together always, instead of only at the magic moments between day and night.

When the song was over, the last note seemed to hang in the air for ages, like a kiss blown from across the room that dissipated before it reached its intended's lips, leaving them both feeling empty. Then the ladies shook off their reveries, most of them wiping away tears as the clapped and cheered.

Through the tenuous new bond between them, they exchanged, wordless, _I know, ashke. I felt it too._


End file.
